HDB to offer BTO flats with shorter waiting time

To help young couples get their new homes sooner, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) will introduce a new sales mode for balance flats and will start the construction of select build-to-order (BTO) projects ahead of their launch. The Housing Board plans to launch for sale the first batch of flats with shorter waiting time in 2H 2018 but construction is expected to start in Q4 2017. These units are targeted for completion between Q4 2020 and Q1 2021. This means buyers would only have to wait for around 2.5 years starting from the time they apply to purchase the flats, instead of about three to four years for standard BTO projects. About 1,000 units will be offered with shorter waiting time across three projects in the non-mature estates of Yishun, Sengkang and Sembawang. When applying for these flats, first-timer families will get higher priority. Compared to current q...